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A bit like darts for lumberjacks, you take it in turns to hurl lethal tools at painted targets on a wooden board 15ft away. Then you cross your fingers and hope they get somewhere near the bullseye.

This eccentric pastime is great fun and, like a lot of things in the Canadian capital, spectacularly larger than life.

Take the towering totem poles - apparently the world's largest indoor collection - in the city's Museum of History.

Carved from whole tree trunks and each telling stories of the country's indigenous "First People", several are 65ft high. They're the tallest they could squeeze into the building.

We are on what is billed as a "Sip, Axe and Relax" tour, organised by an outfit called Brew Donkey.

A yellow school bus with a sign saying "Be nice to the driver" takes us to Stray Dog, one of the new craft breweries springing up serving British-style ales.

“A bit like darts for lumberjacks, you take it in turns to hurl lethal tools at painted targets ”

Mal Tattersall

Then, after a glass of the naughty-sounding Shaggin' Wagon beer, we head for the Battle Axe Throwing League HQ.

Perhaps drinking first is not a good idea. But a green-haired woman called Finn takes us through a stringent safety drill before showing us how to hold the chopper with two hands, dangle it behind our backs and then sling it over our heads as hard as we can.

It's not as easy as it looks.

But when the blade does embed itself into the target, it makes a satisfying thud, sending wooden splinters flying.

Exhausted by all that physical effort, we clamber aboard the Brew Donkey bus to the nearby Vimy brewery for yet more craft ale.

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Mal Tattersall

TOUGH STUFF: Girl hurls an axe with all her might

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Oddly for a capital city, Ottawa never seems to have drawn the same number of tourists as some other Canadian destinations.

But after celebrating the country's 150th anniversary last year, it's making a valiant attempt to catch up.

And with a wide range of attractions - from the National Gallery with its indigenous art collections, to the mountainous Gatine-Gatineau Park wilderness and then back to the cool bars and restaurants of Byward Market - it's worth checking out.

We stayed at the extremely comfortable, centrally situated Westin Hotel, looking out over Parliament Hill and the House of Commons, which appears remarkably like ours back home.

Down the road are the National Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Nature, where even the dinosaurs are dwarfed by a 65ft skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling.

Stroll a little further and there's the War Museum, where Hitler's armour-plated Mercedes car is part of a display of tanks, guns and planes heralding the country's military exploits from early Indian conflicts through two world wars to the present day.

Just a 15-minute drive away, on the opposite side of the Ottawa River, sprawls Gatineau Park.

But this 90,000-acre outdoor playground could be a million miles away from the city.

There are glacial lakes for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle-boarding and swimming, more than 100 miles of hiking trails, mountain bike tracks, rock-climbing faces and pretty beaches to relax on.

The river is great for whitewater rafting in summer - and frozen in winter for skating, while many roads, once the snow comes, become ski slopes.

Mal Tattersal

ROARSOME: Dinosaurs at the Canadian Museum of Nature

Venture into the interior and you could glimpse brown bears or wolves. But they normally steer well clear of people.

Paul Prouix, of Tours Expedition, who not only show you round but also provide a tasty lunch, reckons ticks and mosquitoes are a bigger danger.

Later, indulge yourself at the nearby Nordi-Spa Nature, a vast cluster of open air pools and log cabins with different Finnish sauna or steam bath treatments, which claims to be the largest spa in North America.

Sweat it out in the sauna, before quickly cooling down by rubbing a handful of snow from a bucket by the door over your body.

Then warm up again in one of the heated outdoor pools or hot tubs while summoning the waiter to fetch a cocktail.

No trip to Ottawa, though, would be complete without visiting the Canadian Tire Centre to see the local Senators ice hockey team.

We watched them lose in a "shoot-out" to the Detroit Red Wings.

We were in Ottawa for Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday and glorified Harvest Festival celebration.

That meant a traditional meal of pumpkin brioche, roast turkey and sticky date pudding in the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel, where the Queen, Princess Diana and Winston Churchill all dined. But you don't have to push the boat out to eat like royalty.

Try the oysters, mussels and jumbo shrimps at the Metropolitan Brasserie, modelled on the grand Parisian eating houses of the 1920s, or head for the trendy Sidedoor, with a menu inspired by Asian street food.

Then there's the Craft Beer Market, where they boast more than 100 ales and lagers on tap and screen British football games on the telly.

Or for a quick snack, grab a Beaver's Tail for a few dollars from one of the street stalls.

These dollops of fried dough coated with cinnamon and sugar are a favourite of former US president Barack Obama.

FACT FILE

Getting there: Air Canada offers more daily flights from the UK to Canada than any other airline. From Heathrow, the airline operates the only daily direct service to Ottawa, with return economy flights starting from £555.77 (including taxes). Find out more at aircanada.com or call reservations on 0871 220 1111.